#conduit ocs

[infamoussparks]

Happy birthday, Caly! My little 4-year old baby celebrated on April 23. She wanted a Disney Princess themed party and Rosaline made sure everyone dressed the part. This is also a great look at height-accuracy for my OCs (except Caly, who is kneeling on a chair).

[codenamehazard]

.:Port in the Storm:.

Chapter 18: Port in the Storm

Hey guys! Time to see what emotional stuff is in store for us in this chapter!

Big thanks to @rogueshadeaux for helping me out as this chapter was giving me some serious issues! If ya'll haven't checked her out, do so! Erosion is a top notch story and it's only gonna get better!

Without delay, let's jump in!

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I lean against the HEMTT while Mako’s taking some stock on supplies and materials. I have been hanging around the convoy for some time, hoping to see Kestrel so I could ask her about the Amp, but out of all time I’ve been watching I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her. I’m beginning to wonder if something happened while I was out clearing my head.

Mako had greeted me, relieved I was okay before we got into some small talk. Chit-chatting about this and that before I found my opening to ask.

“I thought about your suggestion while I was out in the fields and you’re right, it probably wouldn’t hurt to go ask Kestrel. I mean… We already have a deal and all.” I state, Mako smiles and nods.

“That’s good to hear, I know how much the Amp means to you, so I know Kes will fix it up.” Mako replies softly, looking relieved at my answer.

“So uhh… Where is Kestrel?” I ask, Mako gives me a worried look.

“Well… She should be in the workshop… She had gone there shortly after you left to wander and she hasn’t returned since.” I raise my eyebrow at this, but I soon shrug.

“Sounds like she might be having troubles with a rogue customer. I’ll head over there and sort it out.” I grunt as I stretch. “Thanks for the info.” She nods in response as I head over to the nearest wire and hop on. Blitzing off as soon as my foot hits the cable.

—-

Bolts arc as I leap off the wire, gliding towards the door with a smooth tuck and roll. I smile and brush myself off, pleased with my landing. I near the door and soon hear the sound of muffled shouting and screaming as well as the sound of something violently venting out gas. Oh great… As if I wasn’t already nervous enough about asking Kestrel about the Amp, knowing she’s going to be in a foul mood is just making me all the more hesitant. Still, I have made up my mind. I swallow my fear and step inside.

I see the door to the forge is shut and I could now recognize the second voice. It’s Pangolin’s voice. My eyebrows furrow as I listen to the tone, it’s the same tone my father took with me when I fucked up combined with that same military brass. I growl quietly as I approach the workshop door.

“Pangolin? Him of all people?” I question in my head as I get closer. Why is he here and why is he absolutely laying into Kestrel? What did she do?

I’m about to open the door, but decide against it. Instead, I hide myself to the side. Using a small amount of my power to sharpen my hearing and listen. At first, the sound was muffled, but once my ears sharpened, I could hear clearly and what I heard made my blood boil.

“I’ve been at this stupid thing for two days straight, Pangolin. TWO. FUCKING. DAYS!! No sleep, barely eating, only time I took a break was to drink and to take a piss!! What more do you want of me?!?” My eyes bug out of my head at the sound of Kestrel’s voice. Two days straight!? Am I hearing that correctly?? “I am literally running on fumes over this, the VERY LEAST you could do is to cut me some fucking slack!!”

“How can I “lay off” when you lied about the weapon being ready, Kestrel?” Pangolin’s voice growled, I can picture in my mind the bastard circling the girl with eyes full of disdain… Just like my father did to me. This whole thing is still about that stupid gun?? The gun she warned was a prototype??

“I didn’t lie!” Kestrel balks. “I said “HOPED SO!!” How many fucking times do I have to say it?! It means it hasn’t been tested. That there’s a chance that it might not work!! The plan didn’t work anyways because it wasn’t enough to take down the Summoner!!” The poor girl’s voice was starting to sound hoarse, almost desperate. I have to wonder how many times Pangolin has harassed the Gunsmith, by the sound of her voice, I’d imagine it was a frequent thing.

More flickers of my childhood pollute my mind, memories of my father barging in when I was trying to study and berating me for some slight or another and me shouting back, just wanting him to leave me the fuck alone.

“With your behavior as of late, I wouldn’t put it past you to sabotage out of spite, especially seeing that it was your poor conduct that cost us a mine.” I silently seeth as I hear Pangolin talk about the Mine Incident. The very incident that he made Kes and I promise to drop. 

Fucking hypocrite.

“Oh! So we’re going there with this, huh?!” I hear Kestrel screech. “So you’ll have me and Cole bury the Mine Incident but you get to hold it over our heads?? Use it as fucking cudgel?? Who gave you that right, huh?!” I had to pull a small piece of leather out from my backpack and bite into it in order to keep myself quiet. Keep myself from charging in sparks blazing.

“You’re acting like a child!” I hear the Spartan snap. Really?? Kestrel is being the childish one?? She’s not the one making up crack-pot theories about how your own Gunsmith, who you supposedly trust, purposely sabotaging her own work when there was a goddamn monster barreling into town??

“Do you even hear yourself, you dense fuck?!” Kestrel screams, the sound becoming more and more frantic, as if she’s on the verge of tears. “What could I possibly gain from sabotaging my own work? Do you think so little of me that I would literally break my own weapons just to spite you for rightfully calling me out on my shit? Said shit that, might I remind you, that YOU made me and Cole promise to put behind us?? The very same shit you’re holding over my head like a fucking hypocrite??”

“Think so little of me…” That… That struck a cord inside me. I have been around many people before, people don’t say shit like that unless something’s been going on that has led them to that conclusion. I know this for a fact… As this was something I would scream to my own parents. New memories rush in like a surging wave as I start to remember another issue I’ve noticed…

Favoritism…

How Pangolin has been treating Kestrel from what I’ve been seeing… How he’s currently treating her now, is very much like how my father treated me when I was young, especially in my teen years… After my brother was born…

…And how he was treating me? It was how dad treated my little brother… It made me seeth. He was treating one of his own like utter trash and treating me with kid gloves. What’s the big idea here? Is it because he feared what I could do? Or is it because of what he could gain.

“Honestly, Kestrel? I’ve been questioning a lot about you since that incident.” Pangolin hisses as I hold back my tongue behind gritted teeth and scrap leather. “I never thought you could be capable of abandoning anyone to a death you claim you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy, but you proved me wrong there… Makes me wonder what else you are capable of… And now with this blunder, I now wonder how much you have lied…”

“Perhaps… You lied about how long the weapon would take? That you could have gotten it out sooner but you chose to lie instead?”

He did not just fucking say that…

There was a heavy pause, full of tension that was about to break. I could hear the creaking of twisting metal and could feel the bioelectricity in the Gunsmith’s body rise, she would be a beacon of red in my Radar Pulse.

“So…” She damn near whispers. It’s the dangerous low kind of whisper that warns those that something bad is about to happen and there was no stopping it. “It’s my fault… Is it? It’s my fault that two Conclaves are no more?” Her voice is on the brink of tears and I’m getting angrier by the second. “That the blood of thousands are on my hands because I couldn’t complete your precious project quick enough??” The last part comes out as a venom filled snarl.

Memories of the hateful gazes fill my mind, memories of being called a terrorist… Of being blamed for the death of those lost in the Ray Sphere blast… Blamed for the death of Trish’s sister… And here I am… Listening to a mirror.

“Kestrel, you’re putting words into my mouth!” I hear the brick idiot sternly say and I just want to go in there and crack some sense into his head!!

“No, I heard you loud and clear.” The Gunsmith growls. “You’re blaming me for their deaths with this…”

“Kestr-”

“If you’re going to blame me, say it.” Her voice trembles more. “Say. It.”

“No.” The moron rebuts. “I’m not going to entertain this fit.”

“JUST FUCKING SAY IT, THOMAS!!!!” She shouts with all of her might. “SAY IT’S MY FAULT!!! IT’S MY FAULT THEY’RE ALL DEAD!!! STOP PUSSY-FOOTING AROUND AND JUST SAY IT TO MY FACE!!!”

I can’t see what’s going on, but I could feel it. Pangolin’s really stepped in it now. Metal around slowly twists and screeches. The H.R Giger decor almost looks like they are… Coming alive from the sheer rage.

The sound of panting sobs echo out before a sound that is some sort of unholy combination of a human scream and metal scraping metal rings out, forcing me to cover my ears as a cacophony of metal breaking and twisting joins the scream. Screaming like it was alive as Kestrel’s rage devolves into nonsense and the crashing of material and equipment.

She carries on in a blind fury, phrases like “You think I’m such a failure? That I’m a fuck up?”, “You think I’m just an untrustworthy curr?” and similar wail out of her as smoke starts to seep from the bottom of the door. I can’t take this any more, I need to get in there. However, before I could, I could hear the clattering of metal and the crumpling of paper.

“If I’m such a traitorous monster like you believe me to be, then you can figure this out!” I hear Kestrel snarl out before I see the door swing open violently, creating a hole in the wall. She charges out, eyes blazing like hot iron and her body so heated up, she’s causing the fake water heat illusion.

Pangolin tries to follow her out, shouting at her to wait, but she’s too fast for the lumbering idiot. Now he’s left standing there with scrap and blueprints in his arms… The scrap of the Brickzooka…

I stand up and let my power flow, Pangolin’s eyes widen.

“So… This is your idea of leadership, huh? Holding your team’s fuck ups over their heads, treating them like trash and blaming them for things they didn’t do because you’re pissed over petty bullshit?” I watch as the Brick Spartan turns around, his face pale as a sheet.

“Well? Is it?” I bark, my mind slipping back into the days where I lead an army of Conduits. My irritation grows by the minute the longer he just keeps staring at me like an idiot. He gapes like a fish, as if thinking of something to say, but falling short. I can’t help but to growl.

“W-what are you doing here?!” He stammers out in a panic.

“Doesn’t matter why I’m here, what matters is that apparently you think it’s okay to hold shit over your teammates’ heads after you made them promise to let it go” I growl deeply.

“I’m just holding her accountable, just as I asked Mako to do for you.” He tries to defend. I scoff, sparks pop off and my eyes glow crimson. I begin to circle him like a hungry predator, let’s see how he likes it.

“Oh, so it’s “rules for thee but not for me,” huh? Well I’m just holding you accountable for this little fuck up.” I continue to circle him, the sight would have been hysterical to see someone a fair bit shorter intimidate a 6’6” tree of a human if I wasn’t so infuriated. “How can I when you’re holding it over Kestrel’s and my heads, huh?” I sneer, my blood seething in my veins. “Ever thought that if you don’t let it go too, the issue can’t be dropped?”

The idiot says nothing, time to turn up the heat as the bolts grow hotter in intensity.

 “And what’s with the favoritism, huh? You’re treating Kestrel like utter shit yet you’re handling me with kid gloves. What’s that all about, hm? You scared of me? You want something from me? Go on, tell me.”

He can’t give me an answer, I know I have to walk away before I completely lose it and strike him. So I decided to cut this conversation short, I have a more pressing matter on my mind anyways.

"I don't know what your end-game is here with that bullshit you pulled on Kestrel, but you look me dead in the eyes. You keep pushing her like that, you're going to lose her. She's going to get fed up and leave and don't think she won't. Everyone has their limits and from the looks of things, the bird's reaching that point and if you don't start listening, practicing what you're preaching and actually acting like a leader, she's gonna fly the coop and you'll never see her again." I hiss, a warning from my time leading the Conduit army. A warning I hope he heeds for the sake of the other Misfits. "You'll lose one of your key members and then what are you going to do?" Those last words hiss out of my mouth as I turn away and leave the shop.

With Pangolin verbally torn a new one, I rush outside, leaving him to sit in shame and among the worthless scrap and paper of the oh so precious weapon he felt was so important to push away the one who built it. Silently hoping that the Gunsmith hasn’t left Droptown.

Though I wouldn’t blame her in the slightest if she had, I would have done the same… I have done the same.

Seems like life’s wanting to toss me a bone for once as I pick up on her signature with my Radar Pulse… Huh… She likes high places too. I look up to see her sitting up on top of a building, balled up, hugging her knees and not at all looking happy. I take a deep breath to steel myself before heading up, climbing up the wall to meet her.

Once at the top, I can hear her voice again, it sounds tired and ragged. She’s sobbing…

“It’s not my fault…” She whimpers, rocking back and forth to self-sooth and muttering over and over again that it wasn’t her fault. I knew I needed to be careful, but seeing this? Extra caution is needed. I tap the ball of my foot onto the ground to alert her to my presence so I don’t startle her. She turns around rapidly, tears staining her scarred face and eyes wide in fear.

I approach her and she turns her head back to face forward, balling up more to hide her face.

“What do you want, MacGrath?” She snarls. “If it’s about the stupid gun, save it. I’ll get it made.” I shake my head at the mention of the firearm, not that she could see it. I know I need to handle this situation with care… Not one of my strong suits.

“That’s… What I wanted to talk about…” I murmur in as soft of a tone as I can.

“What, you don’t want the gun anymore? Did Pangolin get into your head too?” The Gunsmith accuses, I would have been upset by this, but I keep my composure. It’s a logical conclusion to come to. I see a glaring eye peek up from behind her arms and I shake my head.

“No, that dense blockheaded bastard has nothing to do with this.” I clarify, I can see the look of confusion form on the girl’s expression. “Something else just came up that’s… A little more important.” I soften my eyes with those words, hoping to get through the anger.

“Then what?” Kestrel questions, her confusion adding to her hostility. I take a deep breath and vent out a couple of sparks to calm my nerves before looking at her. I carefully pull out one of the tip coils of the Amp and show it to her. She looks at it questioningly.

“I want you to repair this instead of building me a gun.” I mutter before gulping. The look of disdain on Kestrel’s face both unnerved and irritated me. She scoffs.

“What?” She sneers. “Can’t fix your own damn weapon?” I clench my fists in a white knuckle grip. I resist the urge to make my displeasure known, reminding myself that to her, this weapon means nothing . It doesn’t hold the same weight as it does to me. I take a deep breath and through gritted teeth, I growl.

“I’m not the one who built it.”

I watch Kestrel’s infuriated expression soften as she lifts and cocks her head. I brace myself for whatever else might come out of the girl’s mouth, but nothing comes. Instead her eyes are focused on my face, like she’s attempting to read me but having troubles. She doesn’t say a word.

“Look, Kestrel.” I continue with a sigh. “I don’t care if having you repair my Amp means I won’t get a firearm from you. I couldn’t give less of a shit about it. I don’t need it and never did. What I do care about is this weapon, right here.” I tap my finger on the coil of the weapon.

I’m about to continue, but I hear the sound of shuffling and I see she’s scooting off to the side a bit. I look at her questioningly before she uses her head to gesture to the empty spot next to her. I blink in surprise before walking over and sitting next to her.

“You see…” I whisper, trying to keep my voice even. I don’t want to break, not in front of her. “This was made by my best friend… Hell, he was my only friend. It was the last gift he ever got to give me.” I pause to collect my words. “I don’t give a shit if this means this is the only thing you’ll do. This weapon means more to me than anything on this god-damned rock. I just want it fixed.”

The bird’s eyes widen as I watch her face fall, her eyes lowering as guilt washes over her and it isn’t that “guilty because she was caught” bullshit, it is genuine guilt. With one hand she covers her mouth and looks away. I’m surprised at how fast she dropped her rage. I would have thought she would have said something snarky or at least try to hide the guilt, but no. It’s on full display. Her eyes stay low, but they dart around some, the hand covering her mouth going to her arm to play with a small bracelet, a small black braided cord bracelet with two turtles and a blue eye looking stone in the center. Her thumb rubs the stone before she looks me in the eyes. After looking at me, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, smoke seeping out. She rubs her eyes as her face hardens and she looks up again, this time, eyes bright with determination.

“Done.”

“Done?” I blurt out in shock. Just… Just like that?

“Done.” She simply repeats. The thoughts in my head stutter and jam as I gawk at her. Surely she has some cruel words to say, something to lash out with to ease her own pain. Use me as a verbal punching bag, anything, but nothing came… Just a single word.

“Th-that’s it?” I balk, blinking my eyes in utter shock. “No sass? No pushback? No jeers? Nothing?” I can’t help but to question her, she looks up at me and tilts her head, I can see a small bit of hurt, but by the way she’s acting, I can tell she understands.

“Why would there be?” Those words come out of her mouth in a tone that is nothing but sincere. I just stare at her, looking like a fucking trout. Then she does something strange. She rolls up her sleeves and holds her hands out where I can see, showing me both the palm and the back of them before holding out her hand. “May I…?” She asks in a feather soft voice. I nod and, though with some hesitation, give her the coil.

“You’re welcome to swing by whenever you like to check on progress or to ask questions.” She murmurs softly as she examines the coil. I just gawk at her as my head is still spinning from the absolute emotional whiplash she gave me.

We sit in silence as the headache of the emotional rigamarole fades into a quiet peace. I watch her study the coil with her eyes and her fingertips. It’s almost amazing to see, I knew what those fingers could do, the claws they hid… I’ve also seen that little Doc Ock display she had going on when she was making that dumbass gun, but seeing it so close… Seeing how feather-like her fingers are as she examines the broken piece, holding it like it’s a precious piece of her grandmother’s china set.

I hate to admit it, but it is… Kinda nice. Nice to sit in silence with somebody else. Even though we have had some volatile history, it’s still… Nice… In the quiet, I remember something.

“Hey Kestrel?” I ask.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for the save, by the way.”

[joskippy]

Can you feel the heat of the system?

[naninadz]

BOWIE.... New ref and design touchups :>

[drreadnought]

pathetic sopping wet beast (character belongs to @rhovanguard)

[rhovanguard]

this is my oc his name is Mr Greature

[kibbull]

I’ve fallen down the Starlight Express rabbit hole so here are some sketch concepts I made for Component OCs

Conduit is based on a coil truck and Fuse is based on an autorack. They might not be the most practical choices but I swear I have reasoning for them lol

These are based on the Wembley production but I honestly might make design variations for the post-2018 Bochum production too. The makeup designs in the first two images are also still definitely a work in progress, but I’m pretty happy with them. Might change them when finalizing designs though

[vaguely-concerned]

it's so funny whenever rook -- degree of 'of all people' implied of course depending on the individual rook but never, I feel, completely a non-factor lol -- has to serve as the voice of reason for one of the companions. applicable at many points during the game needless to say but specifically brought to you today by rook's long-suffering 'we can have some killing elgar'nan later buddy right now we're on a rescue mission remember?' response to lucanis' wild-eyed 'put me in coach!!!' energy in blood of arlathan

[krokaxe]

YOU HAVE SELECTED: CAMPING 1989 "CAMP POPLAR TWAIN" ⌛ You are running out of time!

𝙽𝙾𝚆 𝚁𝚄𝙽 →

[draagu]

guy i made just today via a series of bored doodles! said doodles below the cut

[kirisclangen]

Shrewshiver

She/her, 55 moons, cis molly

[infamoussparks]

We now have an official header! I'm almost done with the first chapter and realized that I also have a prologue. Look for those to be uploaded soon.

[codenamehazard]

.:The Boogieman Cometh:.

Chapter 14: The Boogieman Cometh

Hey guys! Holy hell this took me a lot of time and rereading and blasting music to get this to look right. I hope it looks for you guys too!

I hope you guys are ready to see what the hell those sirens are wailing on about! Here's chapter 14!

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The sirens wail and holler as we make it to the outskirts of Droptown, where I see Mako, Pangolin and Dove opening up the HEMTT, revealing that it is basically a moving forward operating base. With a plant filled triage in one trailer and a supply depot in another, all ready to go should the need arise.

Holy shit. No wonder they're nomadic, they have everything they need right there.

Pangolin slowly starts to gather the others. I turn to look towards the horizon to see what exactly we’re facing, looks like a supersized throng of those Warped I faced in the mines. A lot of them are those starving “Shamblers” I remember clearly, but some of them look… Healthy… Well, healthy for a zombie, I guess.

The thing that truly caught my eye was this… Creature, looks to be about the size of a semi-truck yet it moves faster than should be possible for a beast that size. I squint my eyes to see if I can make out any more details, but the bastard’s too far away to see more.

I spot Kestrel out of the corner of my eyes, drawing my attention from… Whatever the fuck that thing is running around with the horde. I turn to look at her and see she’s walking up to Pangolin with the missile launcher in hand. She tries to put on a confident front, but I can see in her eyes there was a certain level of nervousness to it.

“Here she is.” Kestrel states with a smile. I can see Pangolin's expression turn to relief as he takes the gun, but he seems to pick up on her hesitation.

“You sure it’s ready?” He asks as he looks at the Gunsmith, her expression looking less sure at the prompting. The exchange of words echoing in my head from a time long since past. I can’t help but to quietly mouth the words that came out of Kestrel’s mouth next.

“Uhh… I sure hope so…” She hands the gun over to Pangolin, but in my head two different people stood in their places. Zeke and myself when he gave me the Amp for the first time. That memory stung my heart like a cold knife. Of all the ways that exchange could have happened, why like that?

I touch my eyes and I feel a dampness before I shake my head with a sneer. Come on Cole! Get it together! There’s a whole swarm of things rushing towards you and the others; bound and determined to make you their breakfast. This isn’t the time, nor the place to feel sorry for yourself and bitch about your lot in life.

You made your choice, you live it… Not like anyone would give a shit anyways.

With the exchange complete and Pangolin checking how the gun handles, Kestrel dashes over to one of the trailers and starts getting into the boxes… Hm, must be their armory. The bird pulls out some new toys and…

Okay, those are some really kickass weapons.

For Mako, a rapier and twin pistols were given. For Dove, an SMG and a hatchet. For Pangolin, he was given something that looked like the bastard child of a buzz-saw and an ax. For the bird herself, she equips two six-shooters to her hips and a bigass hammer on her back. I make a mental note to ask about some of those later.

I look back at my Amp and sigh. It really needs some serious work if it’s going to last any longer, but put a pin in the thought. Not the time to worry now.

While everyone is getting ready, I look over to see what else is going on. I see other groups of Conduits rushing out with weapons of their own to take on some of the faster straggler groups. That’s good, shows that this town don’t give up without a fight. My eyes are quickly drawn back to the biggest horde as I spot them making the beeline for the Misfits and I, the creature leading the charge and…

Oh dear god, what the hell is that thing?!

That monstrosity… Words fail to truly capture how hideous the fucker was. It looks like some skinned gorilla-raccoon thing with a giant mouth, clawed hands and… Hooves?? God, it was like a fucked up teratoma was turned inside out and given the ability to move and eat, damn near genetic nonsense. The thing most repulsive about this monster? Where the second set of arms are on the thing’s back… I think I could see what remains of a person. Their screaming expression merging with their ribcage to make a second mouth and that those extra arms were once their arms.

I can feel my stomach curdle, it makes Bertrand's giant cockroach form look adorable.

“Alright, jackasses! Gather ‘round” I hear Pangolin bark out, prompting the others to gather around, I hang back some. He’s rallying up his team, I have no part of it. The Brick Spartan looks over at me and beckons me over. “You too, MacGrath. You’re gonna wanna hear this.” I roll my eyes in annoyance, but I walk over. Looking on the bright side, it’s refreshing to not be the one giving orders.

“Everyone, that bastard monster and its posse are coming, we need a plan to get that thing to open wide for the most explosive jawbreaker known to man, any ideas?” Pangolin’s voice booms over the team.

“First things first, we have to get those Shamblers and Runners thinned out.” Mako points out. “It doesn’t matter what we do to that thing, it’s not gonna stick if the bastard eats the little minions and that’s not including how much of a nuisance they would be if they ganged up on us or got in the way.” Sharp as always, Mako is.

“So from I understand, thin out the herd and then focus on ugly?” Dove pipes up, first time I heard him speak in a long time. Mako and Pangolin nod. ”Sounds like a plan.” Kestrel nod in agreement and I give a grunt.

“Let’s kick ass!” Kestrel shouts before everyone nods and gets into position, looks like I’m getting roped into this too.

Not that I mind, a good chance to get some payback on these shambling fucks.

With the swarm fast approaching, Pangolin and Mako armor up and the rest ready up before the Spartan gives the signal in the form of charging forward and turning himself into a human boulder. The spiked plating crushing and spearing the weaklings. Dove sets up what I can only amount to a launchpad under the brick-ball to send him flying into the air so he can play the role of a meteorite and crash down into another group. With Pango flying high, Dove flits about on air-bursts while letting the SMG rip through the crowd.

Kestrel darts around in the horde like the flighty bird she is, popping slag-bursts before firing off her six shooters into the heads of the Shamblers, turning their brains into a red and purple mist. Mako set plenty of shark-traps to immobilize and joined in with Kestrel in the gunslinging fun with her pistols. Slag-shards and bone-shards flying and spearing zombies left, right and center before switching to the melees when they got too close. Kes smacking them around like the biggest game of watch-a-mole while Mako channels her inner Zorro and makes mincemeat of the zombies, her shark skin rendering the bites and scratches useless.

Me? Well, I sure as hell ain’t gonna miss out on the fun. Black and crimson Skull bolts fly from my hands as I start to “run and gun” so to speak. When those sparks nailed a Warped in the head, I’m rewarded with a lightshow as the fuckers explode with a shower of sparks that took out their little friends. Tossed in a few Cluster ‘nades to keep things popping. Hell, I even found little ways I could help the others. Blasting airbornes with shockwaves and popping bastards when they try to sneak up on the others.

They weren’t making it easy, that’s for damn sure. They were relentless and were giving everyone problems and they were taking hits. They were especially persistent in trying to maul me to death. These things must have it out for me because they keep coming after me. Even that big-ass ugly son of a bitch keeps lunging at me! With the crowds constantly trying to box me in, I couldn’t be as aggressive as I wanted. Those healthier looking bastards even get a few good hits on me, leaving nasty gashes on my body. Thank god my Beast powers up my healing or I would have to be hightailing it to the HEMTT to charge back up!

The beast keeps lunging and I have to keep dodging while using blasts to give myself some breathing room. It was maddening! I wanted to blast this thing to kingdom-come but with all the little things swarming around like flies to shit, I couldn’t just stand still. Especially with how grab and bite happy they were.

With the ugly skinned gorilla-tumor focused on me, Kestrel spots an opening to take. With an air-boost from Dove, I can see her go flying skywards, Hammer raised high before dropping hard onto the head. I brace myself as the shockwave pushes me back. I could hear the hammer impact the head with a sickening crack. The bastard roars in pain from the head-trama and I quickly get out of the way knowing what’s about to happen next.

When the team hears the roar, Mako and Dove focus on getting the zombies away from Pangolin as he takes aim straight for the monster’s roaring maw. Kestrel dashes away seconds before the Spartan pulls the trigger.

The mother of all bricks whistles out of the barrel and flies straight to the thing’s screaming mouth, hitting it right in the uvula! The sound of the impact makes me hold my own throat in pain at the thought… Then the brick explodes. Masonry shrapnel rips the beast’s jaw apart. I thought for sure that would take it out, as did everyone else.

But it didn’t.

The thing gurgles with a shredded throat as it looks dead at Pangolin, he goes to fire off another shot when the weapon overloads and explodes in his hand. I look at him in utter shock before looking at Kestrel, as did everyone else.

“Kestrel, what the fuck?!” Pangolin bellows in fear and anger. “I thought you said it was ready!!” He looks like he’s about to blow a gasket as the bird is trying to avoid being hit.

“”Hoped so!”” Kestrel shouts back. “I said “hoped so!!”” Pangolin looks as if he’s about to rip into her when the teratoma-thing does that for him. With a mighty swipe to the girl, it sends Kestrel flying with the mother of all bitch-slaps. Thinking on his feet, Dove darts off and up to catch her in mid-air before she goes off too far.

The gorilla roars and more of those zombies show up to join the party, causing the fighting to begin anew. Pangolin pulls out his buzz-axe and starts hacking into bodies as the Shamblers break teeth on the brick armor, but the beast charges and backhands the Spartan in rage, breaking pieces of the armor off and sending him sliding off. Mako fires off round after round of bone-bullets to keep the creatures at bay as she goes to help Pangolin up.

Dove and Kestrel glide into the fray and dive down together to create a fire-filled shockwave before dashing back to the others. I pull out the Gigawatt blades and start tearing into those who get too close, but that seems to piss the gorilla off more as he calls for reinforcements again. It’s clear that somebody needs to find a way to shut that thing up so it stops calling its friends if we’re gonna get another opening.

Thankfully it seems like Pango’s on the ball. With all of us keeping the horde preoccupied, the Brickhouse uses his powers to create a thick brick wall above the creature’s head and when it goes to roar again, Pango drops the wall on top of the thing. Silencing it and stunning it.

Now it’s my turn to break some teeth.

My eyes glow red and black veins begin to appear on my skin as I charge up an Alpha Rocket with raw Beast power to triple its power and damage. A favorite tactic of mine for getting rid of the straggling Ice-Titans and Devourers before I left New Marias, made short work of those fucks. Should do the same for this bastard. With the charge done, I turn the Rocket loose, straight for the head. A blinding flash and cacophony of crashing thunder and electricity disorients everyone as the Super-Rocket crashes into the tumor’s face.

When the smoke clears and our senses return, we all look to see what should be the smoldering corpse of that thing…

Only to see it was not only still standing… It is… Healing!!

All the work everyone did, The bricks, both wall and missile, Kes’ hammer crash… All of it damn near undone. The Misfits stare to pure dismay and horror as they watch the jaw heal. Kestrel turns to look at me as my face drains of color.

“What did you do?!?” I could barely hear the Gunsmith utter in disbelief as the monster approaches me, a long and disgusting looking tongue licking its chomps as I back away. How? How?! How did that heal the bastard?!? Nothing like this has happened before!!!

Fear grips my heart and seems to freeze me in place as I’m racking my brain, trying to figure out what did what when I see the monster raise its massive, clawed hand, readying to swipe at my head.

Oh Shit…

[To Be Continued…]

[joskippy]

C:U THIS SUMMER!

[mysticalflyte]

I'm quite proud that I've managed to draw some original art this year! Not really the usual for me, but it's been quite liberating :)

Now available in my online store!

[sc-intothedarknightofthesoul]

~ Morning Coffee ~

It's extremely hot where I'm at, so why not make some somewhat-steamy art?

Plus, I've been experimenting a little more with watercolour brushes.

I haven't been doing much lately cos I've been putting more focus into my DnD campaign with friends.

But yeah...